Mom, daughter get their own home

For the past two years, this mother and daughter didn't have a home of their own.

Lisa Ramirez

For the past two years, this mother and daughter didn't have a home of their own.

The mom has was laid off, yet another statistic of an economy gone bad, and the daughter, just out of school, accepted a series of odd jobs, but the pay was nowhere near enough to support them both.

Yet the mom and her daughter considered themselves blessed; the mom's sister let them move into her home, welcoming them while they both looked for work.

They stashed their belongings in a storage unit and were thankful for the generosity of family.

Things turned around this autumn, when both finally landed new jobs.

They saved enough for rent and security and, if everything went well, they could be in their new apartment in time for the holidays.

It was the bill from the storage company that threatened to dash their dreams. It had crept up in recent months, neglected when their car broke down and the storage-rent money was spent on repairs. After all, how would they get to those new jobs if they didn't have a car?

But everything they owned and needed to furnish their new home was in that storage unit, now irretrievable until the balance was paid.

It was then that they reached out to the Times Herald-Record's People for People Fund, which helps local, self-sufficient people through a one-time financial emergency.

The mother explained to a fund volunteer that she didn't need long-term assistance or help from a government agency, she just needed help with the self-storage fees which, though less than most folks might spend on a decent mattress set, was far more than she could scrape together.

The check that People for People sent to the self-storage company meant that the mother and daughter's dream of a home of their own was realized, and it is there that they will begin a new year, with their new jobs, and renewed independence.